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Usal Beach, TWT, Kettenpom, Hyampom ...

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... "winter" gate at Usal Road still locked ...

Hey John!

Perfect timing! I'm heading up that way next week, but its been awhile since I rode the Lost Coast. Refresh my (faulty) memory - the gate is north of Usal Beach? So you can get to Usal Beach from the south, but not the north, assuming the gate is still locked. Right?

Thanks for the RR! You too Cootz!
 
Hey John!

Perfect timing! I'm heading up that way next week, but its been awhile since I rode the Lost Coast. Refresh my (faulty) memory - the gate is north of Usal Beach? So you can get to Usal Beach from the south, but not the north, assuming the gate is still locked. Right?

Thanks for the RR! You too Cootz!

Hey Leo!

Cool, have a great ride ...

... yes, your memory is
perfect ... the south "mud" gate, I guess, really, was still
locked ... the gate is 500 feet from the north
limit of the Usal Beach area ... they keep the
south portion of Usal open all year, from Hwy 1 to Usal Beach ... for beach access,
I suppose ...

Quads (and loaded KLRs! :laughing) can ride around
the south mud gate in the pic ... so if you can look at the
north gate, a person could at least get around
the locked south gate that I saw, heading south on
Usal ... :thumbup (think that makes sense ... :party)

I was super-pleased I'd get to ride with TWT, after
seeing some of both your pics riding together in
seasons gone by ... :ride

talk to you soon,
-- John A
 
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I was super-pleased I'd get to ride with TWT, after
seeing some of both your pics riding together in
seasons gone by ... :ride

talk to you soon,
-- John A

Yeah, that's awesome. Maybe one of these days we could even ride together. Still haven't spent the night at Buck Island
 
Yeah, that's awesome. Maybe one of these days we could even ride together. Still haven't spent the night at Buck Island

... almost getting warm enough
for a swim at Buck Island ... :party

... think I read somewhere that the gate is open ... :ride
 
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Black Rock Mountain with snow ...

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... something to read ... 33rd printing, 1971 ... :laughing

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... campfire ...
 
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... and ... Mt. Lassen and the sunrise ... :ride

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... Camp on Red Mountain Road ...

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So, in the end I was pretty happy
with my campsite on Red Mountain Road ...
searched for it long enough ... :laughing

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Turns out Wild Mad Road takes you from
Hwy 36 at Wildwood all the way to Ruth,
so that's what I did ... the big trick
for such a road is crossing the
South Fork of the Trinity River ...

From Hwy 36 Wild Mad Road is paved
for maybe 15 miles, and then is
maintained gravel to Ruth ...

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... explored a bit on Horse Ridge, above Ruth Lake, to see
if I could get to the watch tower, but there
was still too much snow on the ridge ...
 
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John, aren't the views from those mountains the best? Here's a "campsite" where I stayed last year on South Fork.

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i-BgFLJNj-L.jpg
 
Wow, cool pics! :thumbup
Love the tarp/bike camp
set-up ...

Have to say thanks to you
for getting me up into
the Trinity area ... really
is a wonderful part of the world ... :ride

Looking forward to July
and the BARF Weaverville Rally ... :party
 
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There's a reason I ride a Trinity six fiddy. It's just a magical place.
 
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SPOT map from the ride home ...

Red Mountain Road,
Wild Mad Road, over to
Alderpoint Road,
Harris Road
and
Bell Spring Road to Hwy 101 south and Lower Haight ... :ride
 
bellspringsrd.jpg


So, the second doofus mistake I avoided was resisting temptation
to go home a way I knew ... down through Elk Creek, camp
at Fouts Springs and make my way home down Bear Valley
to Knoxville Road to Napa, Hwy 35 to Hwy 101 ...

Would have been silly, since I know that way ... :laughing

Instead, I got blocked by snow, and then got obsessed
to find a campsite up on Red Mountain ...

The next morning I saw a sign on Wild Mad Road that said
Ruth - 35 Miles
and thought to myself, well, I'll go to Ruth
and then take TWT's recommended roads off Alderpoint Road ...

Glad I had enough sense to take
TWT's sound route advice,
and take some new roads home ...
they were beautiful roads, and it was a beautiful day ...

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Bell Springs Road:
“Bell Springs Road, 28 miles of
steep narrow unpaved mountain road,
was originally called Mail Ridge,
and was the only through road connecting
Mendocino County and
Humboldt County
before Highway 101 was built.”

Hard to imagine that this now remote, dirt,
county-byway was once the main link to
Humboldt County until Hwy 101 was built … :party

bellspringsrd2.jpg


Bell Springs Road passes by Blue Rock ...

Here is what Stephen Powers had to say about
Blue Rock and the area around it in his book
“The Northern California Indians”
written in 1872:

“The Ki Pomos dwell on the extreme headwaters
of South Fork, ranging eastward to Eel River,
westward to the ocean, and northward to the Castel Pomos.

"With the latter they were ever jangling,
and from the manner in which Indian trails
are constructed, their battles generally
raged on the hill-tops.

"On the vast, wind-swept, and almost naked hogback
between the two forks of Eel River, some thirty miles
or more north of Cahto (now called Laytonville on Hwy 101),
looming largely up from the broad, grassy back of the mountain,
is the majestic, rugged, isolated bowlder called Blue Rock.

"A few miles still further north there is an
enormous section of this mountain-chain,
almost entirely covered with evergreen bushes,
whence its name, Big Chamise.

"Between these two points, and more especially
about the base of the savage old monster,
Blue Rock—a most grim, lonesome, and desolate summit,
cloud-haunted as with ghosts — is one of the most
famous ancient battle-grounds of California,
where
Indian-blood
has
been
poured
out
like
water,
and where the ground is yet strewed with
flint arrowheads and spear-points.

"But the bones of the warriors who
perished
on this fatal field are no longer visible,
having been doubtless consumed
on the
funeral pyre,
and sacredly carried home for interment.”

" ... poured out like water ..." :nchantr

So, there you go ...

TWT counts on the
fingers of two hands
the exact day when her
brand new rear tire
will be worn out,
and she can point to
a map at roads you've never
heard of that you
should
ride ... :ride

Thanks for letting
me tag along ... :thumbup

see you around
the campfire,
-- SFMCjohn
 
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I am so fugging happy. Like I just can't tell you how happy I am that you loved it there.

I will have to check out Harris Road the next time I am in the area. I really just need to go camp near Garberville for a few days and ride and ride and riiiide....

To make you feel better, here is a photo of the New Harris Store. It is RIDICULOUSLY well stocked for such a small place which is always proof how vital these places are to their communities.

i-bhztqtk-L.jpg

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More Bell Springs goodness. Looks like your photo was taken closer to the end of the road?

i-hzsGFVV-XL.jpg


I hope to see you round the campfire again soon. :party
 
I am so fugging happy. Like I just can't tell you how happy I am that you loved it there.

I will have to check out Harris Road the next time I am in the area. I really just need to go camp near Garberville for a few days and ride and ride and riiiide....

More Bell Springs goodness. Looks like your photo was taken closer to the end of the road?

i-hzsGFVV-XL.jpg


I hope to see you round the campfire again soon. :party

Yes, like your pic better, it captures the higher,
meadow part of the Bell Spring Road ... :ride

Really did love the Alderpoint/Harris/Bell Springs route ...
it isn't often that I'll google a road, but Bell Springs
stuck with me, even after being home for a few days,
and I was like "I'll bet there's some stuff on
line about that road ..." :laughing

bellspringsmap.jpg


Would be a fun part of the world
to explore more! :thumbup

see you around
a map,
-- SFMCjohn
 
Johnny, do you remember the name of the road you took out of Hyampom?
 
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